S2000RJ

Matt,

I'm surprised that you have not come across any gearbox problems, it seems the majority on here have had their clutch replaced. If you dealership is that big, I would have expected you to have seen more than a few cases.The '02 S2000 that I drove did have some notichness on 3rd, but nothing like on mine, which has less that 300 miles on the second replacement gearbox. The real problem is the inability of Honda through it's dealer network to rectify the problems to an acceptable standard. There appears to be a huge communications problem within Honda, that does not help the owners. I know that I am not alone when I go into a dealer with a problem and they haven't a clue how to fix it. A lot of the diagnosis is done on this board, which cannot possibly be the most scientific way of fault finding. I would expect a better standard of workmanship from a back street garage, than I have received through franchised Honda dealers. Fixings left off or undone seems to be a regular occurance, not just with me. Trim is damaged on a regular basis. It would appear that the technicians do not follow the manual, so mistakes are made. Even in the unlikely event that a fault is rectified on the first visit, my car usually requires three or four more visits to the dealer to make good the damage resulting from the original repair.

Matt, I'm sorry to pick on you, but I felt that your post did not do anything to reassure me as an owner that Honda have addressed these problems. As a dealer you have an opportunity to contribute much needed information and advice, but statements like I don't know what the problem (if any!!!!?) and doesn't appear to have the same gearbox don't add any value for me. It seems to promote the attitude of indifference and ignorance that Honda UK portrays to it's owners. I feel that when at least 3% of owners are talking of rejecting their cars, Honda UK should be taking some kind of action. If you were to reply with well researched, authorative answers, I'm sure that your input would be appreciated by everyone on here. I'm afraid to say that although you claim to be the largest dealer in S2000, you haven't convinced me to entrust you with work on my S2000. I may be wrong, if so I apologise in advance. I still feel the S2000 is the best car I have ever driven and I would love to be able to enjoy driving it.

Please feel free to pm me if anyone wishes to discuss what I have said off-line.

AnDy_PaNdY

If it was not for this board, my gear selection problem would not have been easily cured by the dealer.
I simply told the dealership which part to change (after 2 guys in America having the same problem) and the problem was cured. I am lucky that my local dealership listens to me and treats me as a valued customer.
Honda UK had never heard of the problem before

tonyh

As an update to this thread, I recieved THE letter from Honda Finance re my rejection due to ongoing problems. And I was right, they are all trained at Honda UK, gave same stock answers, and same end result.
I quote ' having been in touch with Honda UK a replacement clutch is available for this car, please contact your dealership wrt having this replaced under warranty, we will close your file in five days as we believe that this action will bring to and end this unfortunate set of circumstances'.
Well is this the big finger or what, absolutely staggering, no mention of the needed second respray or my alignment problems, so they really did spend some time (four weeks) investigating my problems, they never even read my letter fully.
The result is that I will be visiting Honda UK this pm armed with a AK47 and perhaps someone will listen then.
Saturady last post I had penned a response to Honda Finance stating that the car remains rejected to them and that I will now stop all further payments until a satisfactory solution is reached, think I will let them sort out the court stuff, why should I pay.

steve_the_greek

Matt, I'm not sure how you can say you're unaware of the gearbox and clutch problems. Apart from hundreds (thousands?) of posts on this site, I know that you've already replaced one gearbox/clutch at Balmer Lawn, and you're doing two more this week (one is mine!).

Steve

ianl

Gottcha!!!

tonyh

Mattb, can you confirm the problem with the nose cone, Fleet Honda (ha ha) have had mine resprayed and now its happened again, they suggest the fixing brackets are faulty so want another attempt at respray using new nose. Have no confidence that this will be a permanent fix.
Seen a couple of resprayed fronts and I must say it is no where near being a factory finish, orange peel springs to mind. Do you use a good paint shop that rubs out the first coat and paints until surface finish matches rest of car.
With the overspray on the air dams and the paint not quite reaching the edges near the wheel arch my car is looking decidedly second hand, through no fault of mine.
Will not use Fleet Honda again, agree with S2000RJ, the dealers cannot or do not have what it takes to look after or diagnose these cars. Honda should insist on the systems employed for the NSX, and only authorised qualified people and dealers should work on a car of this type.
Aslo Fleet Honda have been changing out geaboxes and clutches since day one, and handing out free H/Tops to keep them quiet.
And the board is alsohowing thatnot all 055 clutches are fixing the issue.
George at Honda UK also tried to assure me that he thought he would be able to get me a factory finished nose from Japan, is this possible ??

steve_the_greek

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tonyh
[B]Seen a couple of resprayed fronts and I must say it is no where near being a factory finish, orange peel springs to mind. Do you use a good paint shop that rubs out the first coat and paints until surface finish matches rest of car.

mattb

Must be my week for opening my mouth to soon!
We apparently are replacing three S2 boxes this week.
I will endevour to find out the unofficial reason and see if I can let you know.
Matt

t1mbo

quote:
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Originally posted by mattb
2. I don't know what the problem (if any!!!!?) there is with the gearbox's and clutches, but I can tell you that a 2002 model year car doesn't appear to have the same gearbox. It isn't notchy and there is no vibration for the heatshield/'box will pulling away in second gear at low speed.

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[QUOTE]
Matt, I'm not sure how you can say you're unaware of the gearbox and clutch problems. Apart from hundreds (thousands?) of posts on this site, I know that you've already replaced one gearbox/clutch at Balmer Lawn, and you're doing two more this week (one is mine!).

Steve
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Hi everyone,

I personally think that some of these comments should be put in the actual context that each of the situations are actually in.

I would like to mention that I/family have been a customer of Balmer Lawn for a very long time, and my experience is that they are one of the best Honda dealerships around and they will do the best job that they can.Due to their great after sales service, that is why I would deal with them and not the other dealers in the area.

It would appear that dealerships do vary widley across the country from the Balmer Lawn, Marshalls of Reading, to the experience I had at the Derby dealership this last weekend, we were totally met with a lack of product knowledge & customer service.

Steve the Greek, Yes I understand they have have had to replace 3 gear boxes/clutches. However generally for those of us who have had a various number of Honda they are a lot more reliable than other marques.

For those of you who had a GO at Matt's comments - I know him at Balmer Lawn and he is a good salesman there, he is only commenting on the cars that they have seen. Yes, they do sell a high percentage of new/old S2000.

I do feel Steve, that some of your comments should be actual put into context. Your gearbox and clutch, you were told yes it would be replaced and secondly it was agreed that you would have it replaced when you had it serviced. Is it not fair to say that this is excellent service from Balmer Lawn?.... than some of these guys are experiancing... Amend.

Overall it is very unfortunate that so many people have had problems with the gear/clutch, it is good news that the problem can be corrected, those of you who have had more than one, that is very unfortunate. As if the shoe was on my foot I would certainly feel the same about the car we adore.

I think we should work together as owners and dealers to over come the problems that we are faced with the S2000. Therefore learning from one and other. Is that not what the forum is about....?

Enough said.............!

steve_the_greek

Calm down . you will find that all my comments about B-L are positive. I'm very happy with them as a dealer - and if you do a search, you will find that I've recommended them in several threads. I wasn't aware that Matt was a salesman, so I can understand him not knowing all the ins and outs of post sale S2000 niggles, but even so, if you're going to post on an S2000 forum as "the largest new and used S2 dealer in the UK and specialise in servicing them", then you're not doing yourself any favours if you come over as oblivious to the gearbox, and in particular the clutch problem which has been around since the beginning. There are a lot of ignorant Honda dealers out there - I don't believe B-L is one of them - but posts like the one I took the mickey out of aren't going to inspire confidence in other owners.

Again in Matt's defence, due to the location of the dealer, the clientele of B-L tend to be of the typical Honda generation (i.e. >65), so a higher proportion of the cars will not be treated as 'roughly' as many on this forum, so probably won't exhibit these problems.

Steve